


Between the Bones

by Sulwen



Category: Bandom, Panic At The Disco
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-13
Updated: 2011-10-13
Packaged: 2017-10-24 13:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sulwen/pseuds/Sulwen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer isn't surprised at all when Brendon checks out of the hospital early.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between the Bones

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to @GirlPhenom for the beta - and for getting me into this lovely band in the first place! <3

Spencer isn't surprised at all when Brendon checks out of the hospital early. Getting him to go in the first place had been hard enough, even though he was burning up one minute and shivering the next, and could hardly keep his eyes open through the headache, and was running to puke about every half hour, like he'd somehow contracted every strain of flu all at once.

He's back on the bus with them now, on their way to the next city, and yeah, he doesn't look like he's _dying_ any more (Spencer feels a chill go through him just at the thought – the wait for the ambulance had been terrifying), but he doesn't look good, either. He goes straight to the back of the bus and shuts the door behind him, and Spencer just shoots a look at the other guys and follows.

Brendon is huddled on the sofa in total darkness, all the blinds closed, pressing his fingers to his temples. His mouth is twisted up in miserable determination, and Spencer's chest goes tight and furious at the sight. He sits down gently on the other end of the sofa, just in case Brendon doesn't want to be touched right now.

“So. Fucking malaria, huh?”

Brendon laughs and looks like he immediately regrets it, wincing. “Yeah. Fucking malaria.” He narrows his eyes and looks at Spencer warily, like he's expecting another argument about how he should have stayed a few more days in the hospital, how they managed one show without him and could do it again, how if he has a relapse and dies Spencer is going to kill him.

Spencer just looks back for a second. Then he asks, “Is there anything I can get you? Water?'

Brendon groans just at the mention. _“No_...my stomach feels like I've been eating sandpaper.”

“Blankets, then? Painkillers?”

Brendon sighs and digs his fingers into his temples harder. “Maxed out. Thanks, Spence, but I'm good – unless you can get me a new head.”

Spencer scoots closer and reaches out a tentative hand. “Do you want me to do that? It always feels better when someone else does it...at least, it does for me.”

Brendon whines and hunches in on himself, and for a second Spencer thinks he's going to say no, and then Spencer will have to go up front and be miserable and leave Brendon back here to be miserable, all alone in the dark, and god, he wants to squish _all the mosquitoes._ Fucking malaria.

Then Brendon sits up and lets his hands fall down to rest in his lap, and he tilts his face toward Spencer's and closes his eyes, waiting.

Spencer's heart is pounding in his chest as he reaches out and slides Brendon's glasses carefully off his face, setting them down on the side table, out of the way. He takes a deep breath and tells himself to chill the fuck out. It's just Brendon. Just helping out his friend. No reason for heart-pounding at all.

He finds the soft places just along Brendon's hairline, still warm from Brendon's touch, and presses in with two fingers on each side, rubbing slow circles into the skin, around and around, hoping he's doing it right. And Brendon, Brendon just _melts,_ his eyelashes fluttering and his face starting to relax, tension bleeding out of him right before Spencer's eyes.

 _“Fuck,_ Spence...” he breathes, and Spencer smiles to himself.

“Better?” he asks.

“Mmm, magic fingers. I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

“Hey!” Spencer makes sure to put just the right amount of exaggerated offense in his voice, but inside he feels nothing but an almost dizzying wave of relief. It's...it's really good to hear Brendon joking again.

Brendon is leaning more and more forward, closer to Spencer, and finally he tips past the point of balance and falls to rest on Spencer's shoulder, practically purring. Spencer shakes his head and laughs. “Hi there,” he says, his hands knocked out of position by Brendon's movements.

Brendon just looks up at him with big brown puppy dog eyes. _“Spe-ence,_ why'd you stop?”

“Oh for god's sake, come here,” Spencer grumbles fondly. He pushes at Brendon until he's rolled over on his back, his head resting comfortably in Spencer's lap. And he means to go back to rubbing Brendon's temples, he does, but...somehow his fingers end up elsewhere, stroking softly along the line of Brendon's jaw, the arc of his nose, the delicate fluttering skin of his eyelids. His cheeks are rough with stubble where he hasn't shaved for a few days, but his skin is _soft,_ and Spencer can feel every time he takes a breath, every time he swallows.

Brendon's shoulders are flush against Spencer's thigh, and he's still making that noise, a humming purring sound that vibrates all the way through his chest and right into Spencer. It's soothing, and it feels strangely complete, a feedback loop of comfort from Spencer to Brendon and back. Eventually, Spencer's fingers come to rest on Brendon's forehead, rubbing circles into the soft spot between his eyes with light fingertips. Brendon breathes deeply, and the last bit of tension in his body goes out with the exhale.

“Good?” Spencer asks again.

 _“So_ good. Thank you...” Brendon replies.

“My mom used to do this when I was a kid and couldn't fall asleep,” Spencer says, his voice vague, caught in the memory.

Brendon opens one eye to squint up at him. “You? I call bullshit on that. You sleep like a rock.”

“Well, it was a long time ago. I used to get nightmares.” He still does, sometimes. The past few nights, Brendon's featured heavily in them, Brendon suffering, sick, hurt, and Spencer frozen, unable to help. Brendon pale and horribly still, not looking like himself at all without the restless energy that Spencer's come to know and love.

He doesn't tell Brendon any of this, can't even put it into words in his head. But something must show on his face, because when he looks down again, Brendon's staring up at him, looking confused and a little worried.

“Hey...what's--” Brendon starts, but Spencer doesn't let him finish, just reaches down to gather him up in an awkward hug. Brendon flails for a second, but once he realizes what Spencer's going for, he shifts his weight and turns the hug into something much better, something that fits. He doesn't try to pull away, either, just lets Spencer hug him for a long, long time.

Finally, Spencer relaxes his arms and lets Brendon sit back, and if the deep breath he takes is a little shaky, if his eyes are watering just a little bit, Brendon doesn't say a word about it.

Instead, he looks at Spencer with wide eyes and says, “I'm...I'm ok, you know. Really. They never would've let me leave the hospital if I wasn't.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” Spencer looks down at his hands, not sure what to say next. “You, um, wanna watch a movie or something? Or if you need to sleep, I can leave you alone. You should probably rest.”

Brendon grins. “Movie please! And I get to pick, because I'm the sick one. House rules.”

“Shouldn't that be bus rules?” Spencer shoots back, but Brendon is already up and sifting through their plastic box of DVDs, muttering to himself as he looks. It's so normal, so much like any other long boring bus ride, and Spencer feels something inside him let go, like a breath he hasn't been able to let out for three endless days.

They sit on the sofa under a blanket and watch The Lion King, and Brendon sings along quietly to all the songs, only coughing a few times. He falls asleep halfway through, head pillowed on Spencer's shoulder, and when the movie's over Spencer doesn't even move to reach for the remote, just lets the menu screen repeat itself over and over and over as Brendon sleeps on.


End file.
